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The Friday after christmas, we left for Melbourne. We took the 'long and windy road' (the Bonang Highway through the montains between Bendoc and Orbost), which took us a few stops as the kids got car sick. In Melbourne, we stayed with auntie Jo and uncle Pete. We had a picnic with friends and kids near a playground in Albert park and discovered that, in certain circumstances, Emma is willing to push a swing instead of insisting on being pushed endlessly.
On Monday, we went to friends in Balnarring, where we had been after the previous New Year. The kids were happy playing in the garden and beach and watching DVDs together. Compared to last year, Emma was better able to keep up with the boys. We tried watching New Year's fireworks on the local beach. Waking up the kids just before midnight worked well, but the noise was too much for Piet, who left at the start, and even Emma wanted to leave before the finish. We guess it was worth the try.
Back to Melbourne
On Wednesday we went back to Melbourne, where Piet and Emma tried out their
black board christmas present. The next days were 37 and 41 degrees and dad went to work at the Melbourne office, which happened to be airconditioned. Mum caught up with friends at the Weribee zoo, where apart from real safari animals, pretend hippos live in near the
fountains. We caught up with more friends during the weekend, auntie Jo read
another book, dad left to Sydney on Monday.
Tallangatta valley
On Wednesday, the family set off to Tallangatta valley, arriving around lunchtime. Although we hadn't been there since April 2011, the kids had been looking forward to the visit. With auntie Bell, they had a look at the
dam - in Australian English, dam normally refers to the body of water behind the dam - and
ran around through the paddocks.
In the afternoon, we put on our bathers and had a swim in the other dam. Both Piet and Emma are very confident with their floating rings.
We collected the eggs and fed the chooks. Auntie Bell gave us a ride on a quad bike to the horses in the back paddock. Then we did some face painting. The kids wanted to be scary zebras. As it was a hot day, we washed it all off by running under the sprinklers. On the hot Friday we drove back home to Sydney and dad.
Happy New Year
